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d Prici The Battalion enter Hake; 1(?d a five-yes on tract ext Sockets. 33, hadji SE; TUESDAY GGIE Page 3 gent'Xr '"'y 16' 1996 a. ortunatethf | opportunity "e career icl rm — a pri players dot m said. 's are my fan i 'ited to conti the vvonderf. :«ijra(;e under firi liiTTie Corps of Cadets traveled to Austin Washington and Ryan ISBfor a week to participate as extras give Oscar performances iation suppli * By Jeffrey Cranor be exposed. The Battalion By coming to terms with iose canbe By Kristina Buffin what one knows as ' ^^ngd^HE Battalion real, one can move forward in life. pi in ary cenii he Texas A&M Corps of Montfriez cannot hing for ms] Courage Under tiro face the events, er­ ere are usulI Starring Denzel Washington and^t rors or victims of its workinf f Meg Ryan Cadets had a second op­ the night of the res­ ige studeml f- - Directed by Edward Zurich; cue attempt. earn. Phillips gives an ;ar reactors f portunity to be show- Oscar-caliber por­ and resear trayal of Mont­ — the NSC friez’s struggle. rport. NSC ased in a major motion picture when )enzel Washington’s latest Ryan, who has research movie, Courage Under Fire, little screen time in the film, proves Hollywood formulas can plays the most significant fig­ the casting director of Courage Under result in a well-made film. ure. Karen Walden is symbolic Courage Under Fire has ac­ of all the characters’ buried r vice preafe tion, a love story, over-simplifi­ truths. Serling cannot return d Action Ml i i . « o -i cation of the military, an inter­ home and face his past until he ajor, said rey Fire was looking lor a few good men to nal battle within the hero, and first deals with Walden’s past. icross campus a corny-but-touching ending. Ryan does an excellent job e on camps; Through all of this, the produc­ of portraying the constantly here’s quite serve as extras, ers have borne a great film changing Walden. Talks of an set about th marking the beginning of Os­ Oscar nomination for her will w have i car season. To the Army, Lt. probably die down by next >re convenitj Col. Donald Johnson, interim comman- Col. Nathaniel Serling (Wash­ March, though. can’t recyif dant of the Corps, said the casting director ington) far from emulates a Washington should gain an­ Tvanted about 150-200 cadets a day for six or Gulf War hero. other nomination for his su­ Seven days during the Spring of 1995. In the heat of a midnight perb performance, but Oscar cycle on I “We decided that if the cadets wanted to tank battle with Iraqi forces, followers may remember last So it it would be okay,” Johnson said. “We Serling gave the order to fire at year’s inexplicable oversight of also checked the story line because we didn’t what he thought was an enemy the entire African-American Want them to be involved in a movie we tank. But the tank was “friend­ community by Academy voters. Wouldn’t be proud of.” Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) celebrates her completion of military schooling in Courage Under Fire. ly,” and several American sol­ Courage Under Fire makes J; The production company paid for the diers were killed. everyone proud to be an Ameri­ j/ Action Coahr cadet’s transportation from College Station back and forth for a long period of time. dents we can say our cadets were in it. Both Now Serling is confined to a can, but Aggies may be disap­ to Austin and gave cadets $75 a day for “On the second day we went to an obsta­ were excellent movies, and it was a thrill for desk job at the Pentagon, and pointed with the lack of recog­ iversity’sii their participation. cle course with barbed wire and mortars go­ our cadets.” his new assignment is to re­ nition for the Corps of Cadets i be fading. Francisco Armada, a junior English major ing off,” Armada said. “But on Thursday we The release of Courage Under Fire view the nomination of Capt. in the finaTcredits. used to us and member of K-2, said the cadets partici- caused anger and disappointment Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) for d carrying Pated in a lot of the background shots and to ignite amongst the cadets. Un­ a Medal of Honor. Walden is toet some of the stars of the movie. arket for i* "It didn't take long for them (the cadets) like in the first woman to be nominat­ “I got to talk to Lou Diamond Phillips and A Few Good Men, Courage ke a p&ssfc Under Fire never credited the ed for the award, but the nomi­ ;d to carry he was really down to earth,” Armada said. to realize that this was not going to be a nation is posthumous. "We kind of joked about his role in Stand Corps for their participation. piece of cake. But I think they enjoyed it “In A Few Good Men the Fish The job seems simple nd Deliver.” enough — a rubber stamp and However, Armada’s impression of Acade- Drill Team was featured and in asses, th» and they got paid. Overall, it was a positive a ceremony — but Serling y Award-winner Denzel Washington was Courage Under Fire they were not e could arj experience." really recognizable,” Josh Marcus, a soon finds himself in a mass ompletely the opposite. of confusion. His own past in ers. This1 When I talked to Denzel he was kind junior biomedical science major and — COL. DONALD JOHNSON the Gulf War is haunting him 1 greatly1 of an asshole,” Armada said. “But I didn’t member of A-l, said. “So it was dif­ interim commandant while the story of Walden and I we’re lo< really get a chance to talk to Meg Ryan ferent but they could not have her men changes with each l>ne-on-one.” filmed the movie without a large man’s recollection. ;eting maj The cadets left at 4 a.m. every morning and got to get into flight gear and go out to the group of guys.” a good io did not return until 8 p.m. each night. They airfield and mess around. Marcus said the Corps was an integral part One of the soldiers, Ilario se to use it worked for approximately 13 hours a day. “It was fun depending on the day. The of the movie and the cadets spent a lot of time (Matt Damon), recalls use it, Johnson said it was harder to find willing mornings were cold but the afternoons were working on the movie so one credit mention Walden’s fine leadership and a lot of at* adets as the week wore on. hot. We got to get into full camouflage gear would have been nice. bravery during her command i’t drinkitj: “It didn’t take long for them to realize and use fake M-16s.” He said leaving them out of the credits was of a helicopter rescue mission. , peopled hat this was not going to be a piece of Johnson said the Corps’ participation in inconsiderate of the filmmakers. Montfriez (Lou Diamond ?h to use it ake,” Johnson said. “But I think they en­ Courage Under Fire and A Few Good Men “We did help out and we were paid,” Marcus Phillips), on the other hand, joyed it and they got paid. Overall it was a will allow cadets to show prospective students said. “They just had to do one line for a credit. describes Walden as a coward oositive experience.” that they may have similar opportunities. “All major movies thank places where they and a poor decision maker. On the first day, Armada said, the cadets “I don’t know if A&M will get direct cred­ shot the movie. A lot of people feel they could What Serling and the script Denzel Washington is in itrc had to patrol the field, which meant walking it,” Johnson said. “But when we talk to stu­ have just added one line of thanks easily.” writer want is for the truth to charge of a crucial investigation. Rising (Star A&M senior James Jackson made his acting debut in the summer hit Courage Under Fire By Pamela Benson end up leaving until 5 p.m. didn’t want to disturb him,” he said. Jackson will certainly have that The Battalion The day his scene was being filmed, “But I was determined talk to him opportunity when he moves to New Jackson was asked to walk past Wash­ and get a picture.” York to go to acting school in August. hen a friend gave him the ington and step over a bench. Although Jackson did get to talk Herbert Bergoff Studio in telephone number to the “I kept thinking that I would fall on to Washington and take a few pic­ Greenwich Village will be Jack­ Texas Film Hotline, James Denzel or something,” he said. “If tures, the majority of the advice he son’s new home. WJackson never thought he would parsomeone­ messed up during a scene, received about acting came from oth­ He said he plans to study acting cs Ep|T0R ticipate in a film with one of his fa­ they would simply kick them off the er professionals on the set. technique, acting scene study, speech, vorite actors. set and find someone else movement, dance and directing.

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